A LACK of available PPE put prison staff at risk of infection when they were on hospital bedwatch as a paedophile was dying from Covid, an investigation has concluded.

Sex offender Thomas Parker, of Nuneaton, was jailed for 20 years in 2014 for crimes including the rape of a six-year-old girl.

Parker died from respiratory failure caused by lung damage as a result of Covid pneumonia in hospital on December 16, 2021, while a prisoner at HMP Isle of Wight. He was 67 years old. 

An inspection into his death was carried out by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, which looks at how deaths in custody occur and see if any improvements to care can be made.

In this case, it was the officers who could have been better cared for.

Parker was offered the Covid vaccination in February, March and April 2021 but declined it each time. He didn't consider it to be safe.

In September, he agreed to have the vaccination but due to a national shortage, he was placed on a waiting list. He never had the jab.

On November 13, Parker tested positive for Covid and was admitted to hospital a week later. He had caught Covid in prison as he had not left the prison for several months. He was taken to hospital using restraints, which is standard practice for his security level. The restraints were removed when his condition worsened.

On November 23, he was moved to the Critical Care Unit (CCU) in hospital as he had become short of breath, then three days later entered the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as his condition continued to deteriorate.

The following day, he was put in an induced coma.

Officers remained with him, but on December 3, the prison was unable to provide bedwatch officers with full PPE at the start of their shift as there was no clean equipment available. They were therefore unable to enter the ward.

Approximately one hour later, a prison officer delivered all missing equipment to the bedwatch officers.

On December 11, the prison was again unable to provide bedwatch officers with full PPE at the start of their shift as it was not delivered on time. They received it approximately one hour later.

The inspectors found that had an incident involving Parker arisen at the hospital that had required bedwatch officers to enter the ward, they would not have been able to do so safely.

Parker died on December 16.

The inspectors raised concerns that on two occasions, there was a delay in providing Parker’s bedwatch officers with PPE.

A recommendation was made that the Governor should ensure PPE is readily available for prison staff on bedwatch duties.

The report concluded that the lack of PPE put officers at unnecessary risk.